Comcast begins traffic control test

Comcast and Time Warner Cable (TWC) are both commencing experiments with new ways to handle customers’ bandwidth consumption.

Comcast had been simply severing any connection that consumes large amounts of bandwidth. As an alternative, Comcast will test the ability to isolate the connections of heavy users and throttle back the bandwidth available to them, if necessary, to manage network traffic loads.

Comcast’s testbeds will be Chambersburg, Pa., and Warrenton, Va., and eventually Colorado Springs, Colo.

Comcast continues to consider implementing a 250 GB/month limit but has not adopted such a policy.

TWC appears to be taking the more aggressive tack of the two. The company is instituting a plan to charge new customers $1 for every gigabyte of data they consume beyond their allotted maximum.

TWC’s plan was announced earlier this year and is being put into effect in its Beaumont, Texas, system.